Israeli security leaders join crucial ceasefire talks in Gaza

Israeli security and political chiefs are expected to arrive in Qatar on Sunday for high-level talks on a proposed Gaza ceasefire agreement that would see the hostages released in the final days of President Biden’s term and before Donald Trump takes office.

Biden administration officials Pressed For a deal that would become part of the legacy of the outgoing president and Mr. Trump He warned He said that “all hell will break out in the Middle East” if Hamas does not release the hostages before his inauguration on January 20.

Lower-level negotiations have taken place in recent weeks after months of stalemate.

While some progress has been made, disagreements remain on several key points, including the timing and extent of Israel’s redeployment and withdrawal from Gaza and its willingness to eventually end the war, according to several officials and a Palestinian familiar with the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were being held in secret, and they were not authorized to discuss the details publicly.

The Biden administration said that representatives of the late and incoming US presidents are cooperating on this issue, while Qatar and Egypt mediate between Israel and Hamas.

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Saturday. On Friday, Mr. Witkopf was in Doha, the capital of Qatar, and met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, for talks focused on efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza. According to the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Netanyahu’s office announced late Saturday that he had discussed the issue with Israeli security chiefs and with negotiators from the outgoing and incoming US administrations. Mr. Netanyahu’s office said he also instructed senior Israeli negotiators — including David Barnea, the head of the Mossad intelligence agency — to leave for Qatar with the aim of moving the deal forward.

Differences remain between Israel and Hamas over the core issue of the sustainability of the ceasefire, with Mr. Netanyahu still unwilling to declare an end to the war as part of the ceasefire agreement. A three-stage agreement drawn up by Mr. Biden Last May.

Israel insists on a more vague formula that leaves room for ambiguity, according to what the Palestinian familiar with the matter and two Israeli officials said. Another official familiar with the matter said that the Americans were supposed to give the mediators a guarantee that the United States would work to end the war, although Israel had not agreed to any specific wording.

Hamas is also demanding detailed maps from Israel showing where it will withdraw to, but Israel has not provided these maps, according to officials and Palestinians familiar with the matter. They added that differences still exist regarding the timing of the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the region Philadelphia CorridorA strip of land adjacent to the Gaza border with Egypt.

Nearly 100 hostages taken during the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, remain in Gaza, out of about 250 hostages held. Israel believes that at least a third of the remaining hostages are dead.

Israel and Hamas have shown signs of a desire to resolve outstanding issues, with mounting pressure from the United States and the Israeli public. Hamas representatives last week He noted that the group agreed An Israeli list of 34 hostages who will be released in the first phase of the agreement.

But Israel said last week that it had not received any information from Hamas regarding the status of hostages who appear on the list, which includes those it considers the most vulnerable and urgent cases – women, children, men over 50 and many sick or injured hostages. .

Israel asked Hamas for a list of the names of the hostages who were still alive. Without that, Israeli officials say, there will be no agreement on how many Palestinian prisoners Israel might be willing to release in exchange for them. As of Sunday morning, Israel had not received a list of names of living hostages, according to an official familiar with the matter.

Last week, Israeli forces found the body of one of the hostages whose name appeared on the list of 34 hostages – Youssef Zayadna, 53, an Arab citizen of Israel – in a tunnel in Gaza along with the remains of his son, Hamza Zayadna. Who was also captured during the 2023 attack.

The Israeli army returned the remains of the two men to Israel for burial.